NEWS

Ex-Iowa Juvenile Home resident's claim rejected

by KIX101.1 /1230 KFJB News Departmentposted May 8 2014 10:04AM

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The State Appeal Board has rejected a $500,000 claim filed by a former resident of the Iowa Juvenile Home.

Nineteen-year-old Jessica Turner, of Okoboji, said the state violated her constitutional rights by inflicting cruel and unusual punishment and denying her due process. She says she spent nine months in isolation at the now-closed home.

The juvenile home came under intense criticism after The Des Moines Register published a series of stories beginning last summer about questionable treatment of teenagers, including use of isolation cells and a lack of educational opportunities. The home was closed in January by order of Gov. Terry Branstad

Turner so far is the only former resident to pursue a claim over the home's use of long-term isolation cells.